Apparatus for pumping deep wells



May 5, 1936. G. E. BEHNKE APPARATUS FOR PUMPNG DEEP WELLS Filed Dec. 11,1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

Guy E Behnhe IIIIIIIIIIII'liIIIIJUIIWillllllllllllllflllllllllililillllllllllllllllllllll.rlllilllllllMay 5, 1936. 'G.'E. BEHNKE 2,039,621

-APPARATUS FOR PUMPING DEEP WELT-.IS

' Filed Dep. 11, 1933 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented lMay 5, 1936 e UNITEDSTATES 2,039,621 APPARATUS FOR PUIVIPING DEEP WELLS Guy. E. Behnke,Houston, Tex.,`assignor to Reed Roller Bit Company Houston, Tex., acorporation of Texas.

Application December 11, 1933, Serial No. 701,875 8 Claims. (Cl.10S-179) This invention relates generally to apparatuses for pumpingdeep wells, and specifically to apparatuses for supporting sucker rodlines to reduce the strain thereon incident to the weight thereof,friction and inertia.

It is a common practice, particularly in pumping oil wells, to lower along line of tubing from the surface of the ground to a point below thelevel of the oil in the well and to reciprocate -a y10 plunger Withinand near the bottom of the tubing by means of a long line of sucker rodsextending through the tubing and motivated by a pumping unit at theupper end. During normal operation the line of tubing remains filledwith oil from top to bottom. On the upward stroke of the plunger andsucker rod line the entire column of oil is lifted a few feet, theweight of all this oil being carried, bythe plunger and sucker rod line.A downward return stroke is then made to pick up another charge of oil.

This method of pumping wells is not without serious objections whichbecome more and more obnoxious the deeper the well. It is obvious thatboth rods and tubing suffer extension due to their own weight, and thatin addition to this dead load stretch there is a live load or pumpingstretch since the weight of the oil in the tubing is carried alternatelyby the sucker rods on the'up stroke and by the tubing on the downstroke. It is well known that further stretching of the sucker rodsarises from friction and from inertia of the moving mass. Thosepracticed in this art are familiar with other objectionable phenomenasuch as over-travel and pounding of the plunger and whipping of thesucker rods. The undesirable result of the foregoing is that a verygreat strain is placed on the sucker rods and it is not uncommon forthem to break, thereby incurring a great expense and loss of time. 40Since these diculties present one of the foremost problems in pumpingdeep wells, many attempts have been made to develop apparatuses whichwill effectively relieve the strains in sucker rods during operation.This is usually done byv so disposing springs along the sucker rod andtubing lines that part of the Weight of the sucker rod line is supportedby the springs and thereby transferred to the tubing. However, suchsprings. to be effective, must be large and unwieldy and 50 are noteasily assembled in the limited space in the well.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a new and improvedmeans for relieving the weight of a long line of sucker rods, incidentto 55 deep well pumping, to reduce the strain, prevent the resultanttrouble, and permit the pumpingof wells deeper than can be pumped at thepresent time.

It is a specific object of this invention to provide a means to relievesuch strains by utilizing 5 the hydrostatic pressure of the iluid in thetubing -to exert an upward force on the sucker rod line at anintermediate point or points.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentthroughout the detailed descrip- 10 tion.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein, for the purpose of illustration,is shown a preferred embodiment of the means which carry out the objectsof this invention, 15

Fig.` 1 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view of the apparatusinserted into a sucker rod line at a predetermined point within thetubing.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectionalview of a portion of the stuing boxdisposed between the hollow 20 rod and the tubing.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic layout of the device.

Figs. 4 and 4a, to be considered as one iigure, is a verticalfragmentarysectional view showing a plurality of boosters inserted intothe sucker rod 25 line at predetermined points within the tubing.

While it is to be understood that' the scope of my invention includesquite dissimilar apparatus, all within the scope of the hereinafterappearing claims, I will now explain my invention by refer- 30 ence tothe particular embodiment of the means, diagrammatically shown in Fig.3. At every point within the oil filled line of tubing 3|, the oilexerts a hydrostatic pressure. I attach means to the sucker rod line(here the hollow piston 8) 35 at any point along the length thereof, orat a .multiplicity ofsuch points, in such a way that the saidhydrostatic pressure is exerted upwardly on said means, therebysupporting or boosting the sucker rod line. Furthermore, `I providesealing 40 means (here the stufilng box 2|) to prevent the hydrostaticpressure from also acting downwardly on the piston 8 to annul theboosting force. I then permit the fluid below these means to ow freelypast the means to the portion of the tubing line above the means (hereby way of ports Il, hollow piston 8, hollow rod 30, and ports I8).

Referring now to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, I w'lll describe the preferredembodiment of the appa--l ratus illustrated by way of example. Onesection of the. usual oil string tubing is shown at I and anothersection at 'I. The section I is threaded at its upper end into acoupling 2 which in turn is joined to a section of tubing 3 which may ormay not be of diameter larger than I.

the coupling I0.

This tubing 3 joins a coupling II attached to the lower end of theworking barrel 5. The coupling 6 joins thesaid working barrel 5 to theupper tubing section 'I whose diameter is greater than that of theworking barrel 5. The inside surface of the working barrel 5 iscarefully reamed to provide a suitable bearing surface for the piston 8.

The hollow piston 8 comprises a cylindrical sleeve 9 threaded internallyat each end to the couplings Ill above and II below. The upper couplinghas central bore and is threaded to accommodate the lower end of thehollow rod I2. The lower coupling II tapers to a smaller diameter at itslower end where it carriesa female thread to engage the standard malethread of the uppermost end I3 of the lower string of sucker rods. Thesleeve 9 is finished on its outer surface to give an oil tight slidingfit between it and the working barrel 5. 'Ihe lower coupling II has anumber of perforations I4 whereby the inside of the piston 8communicates with the oil space I5 in the lower tubing 3.

A coupling I6 joins the upper end of the hollow rod I2 to the lowermostend I 'I of the upper string of sucker rods. Perforations I8 in thecoupling I6 provide a passageway from the inside of the hollow rod I2 toan oil space I9 in the upper tubing 1. The hollow rod I2 is finished onthe outside to slide with an oil tight fit onv the inside surface of astuing box about to be described. The stufling box consists of a tube 20threaded at its lower end to engage the upper threaded end of the stuingbex proper 2I. The stufflng box 2| has an annular outside shoulder 22which seats against the upper end of the working barrel 5. Packing rings23 and spacers 24 seal the stufling box to the working barrel and areretained on the stumng box assembly by an annular ring 25 threaded tothe lower end of the stuillng box 2l. The working barrel 5 has openings26 communicating with the space outside of the working barrel andtubing. A spring 21 may be placed around the hollow rod I2 above thetube 20 to act as a buffer should the lower shoulder of the coupling I 6descend very near the upper end of the tube 20.

It will be readily understood that reciprocation of the pump plunger iseffected by operation of the string of sucker rods in a manner wellunderstood in this art. The operation of the booster will now bedescribed: Throughout the operation of the booster, oil stands in thespace I5 between 4sucker rod and tubing, in the piston 8, in the hollowrod I2 and in space I9. The annular space 28, between the working barrel5 and the hollow rod I2, however, communicates by means of openings 26with the space 33 between the tubing 3| and the side 32 of the well.Against the under side 29 of the coupling I 0 acts a pressure due to thehydrostatic head of the whole column of oil up to the top of the well.This pressure exerts an upward force on the piston which is not balancedby the lower well pressure acting downwardly on the top of The pumppiston carries the weight of the column of fluid and anything interposedin the sucker rod line, such that the effective hydrostatic pressure onit (taken by itself and without the pump piston) is in an upwarddirection, will act as a booster. The obvious effect of my structure isthat the downward stroke of the sucker rod will be to displace sleeve 9and coupling I0 against the hydrostatic head of the oil. The eiect ofthis displacement will be to give an upward thrust and thus relieve someof the lifting stresses in the sucker rod. I'he aforesaid upwardlyexerted force is imparted by sleeve 9 and coupling II to the lowerstring of sucker rods, thus relieving the upper string of a portion ofthe weight of the lower string. In other words, the pressure on theupper surface of the pump piston is partly balanced by the pressure onthe lower surface of the coupling II.

l Without the apparatus disclosed herein, the pressure on the uppersurface of the pump piston is not even partly balanced. It is alsoreadily seen that when it is desired to remove the apparatus from thetubing the reciprocating parts may be raised until the upper face of thecoupling I0 engages the lower face of the ring'25 whereupon the entirestuiiing box assembly may be lifted out of the well along with thesucker rods. The booster may later be returned to operating position byreversing this process.

Figures 4 andA 4a, to be considered as one figure, shows a plurality ofmy boosters for use in deeper wells, in which it would be economicallyexpedient to use more than one booster, as shown in Figure 1. Theprimary booster, shown in Figure 4, is identical in-every detail withthe device shown in Figure 1, and is placed relatively near the workingpiston of the oil well pump. The secondary booster, as shown in Figure4a, is substantially identical with that shown in Figure 4. Thesecondary booster is placed relatively upward in the tubing from theprimary booster, the usual sucker rod 34 connecting the primary andsecondary booster so that they may work in conjunction. The operation ofboth of the boosters shown in Figures 4 and 4a is identical with thebooster shown in Figure 1, but the effect of having a plurality ofboosters interposed in the sucker rod line at predetermined points is torelieve still further the lifting stresses in the sucker rod and toincrease the eifectiveness of myinvention, especially in deep wellswhich heretofore have been too deep to pump successfully without a greatdeal of difficulty.

From the above, it is obvious that any number of my boosters may beinterposed in the sucker rod line of a well-pump, the optimum number ofboosters depending solely on the depth of the well.

It Will be apparent in view of the foregoing that I have provided a newand useful means for overcoming serious disadvantages in the presentmethods of pumping deep wells, whereby the strains incident thereto aregreatly relieved, whipping and pounding of sucker rods are minimized anddeeper wells can be, successfully pumped. Various changes in shape,size, and arrangement of parts may be made in the particular embodimentof my invention herein shown and described, without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

I1. In well pumping apparatus. the combination of a line oftubing', aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump uid upwardly through said tubing, and a plurality ofsupporting means connected to said sucker rod line in spaced verticaltandem, each of said supporting means comprising a hollow piston and a.hollow rod connected to and above said piston, sealing means between thetubing and said rod, said rod communicating with the interior of saidtubing only at a point above said sealing means, and said pistoncommunicating only with the interior of said rod and with the interiorof said tubing below said piston, said tubing communicating with thewell at a point between said piston and said sealing means, said suckerrod line with said supporting means being removable upwardly throughsaid tubing without disturbing the position of said tubing in the well.

2. In well pumping apparatus, the combination of a line of tubing, alineof sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said sucker rodline to pump fluid upwardly through said tubing, and l a plurality ofsupporting means connected to said sucker rod line in spaced verticaltandem, each of said supporting means comprising a hollow piston and ahollow rod connected to and above said piston, sealing means between thetubing and said rod, said rod communicating with the interior of saidtubing only at a point above said sealing means, and said pistoncommunicating only with the interior of said rod and with the interiorof said tubing below said piston, said sucker rod line with saidsupporting means being removable upwardly through said tubing withoutdisturbing the position-of said tubing in the well.

3. In well pumping apparatus, the combination of a line of tubing, aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump uid upwardly through said tubing, and a plurality ofsupporting means connected to said sucker rod line in spaced Verticaltandem, each of said supporting means comprising a hollow piston and ahollow rod connected to and above said piston, sealing means between thetubing and said rod, said rod communicating with the interior of saidtubing only at a point above said sealing means, and said pistoncommunicating only with the interior of said rod and with the interiorof said tubing below said piston.

4. In well pumping apparatus, the combination -of a line of tubing, aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump uid upwardly through said tubing, and a supportingmeans connected to said sucker rod line and comprising a hollow pistonand a hollow rod connected -to and above said piston, sealing meansbetween the tubing and said rod, said rod communicating with theinterior of said tubing only at a point above said sealing means, andsaid piston communicating only with the interior of said rod and withthe interior of said tubing below said piston, said tubing communicatingwith the well at a point between said piston and said sealing means,said sucker rod line with said supporting means being removable upwardlythrough said tubing without disturbing the position of said tubing inthe well.

5. In well pumping apparatus, the combination of a line of tubing, aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump fluid upwardly through said tubing,l and a supportingmeans connected to said sucker rod line and comprising a hollow pistonand a hollow rod connected to and above said piston, sealing meansbetween the tubing and said rod, said rod communicating with theinterior of said tubing only at a point above said sealing means, andsaid piston communicating only with the interior of said rod and withthe interior of said tubing below said piston.

6. In well pumping apparatus, the combination of a line of tubing, aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump iluid upwardly through ysaid tubing, a piston in saidtubing and connected to said sucker rod line, said tubing having anopening to permit communication between the well and the interior ofsaid tubing above said piston, means to seal the space between saidtubing and said suckerrod line above said opening to prevent thefluid insaid tubing from exerting a downward pressure on said piston, and meansto cause the fluid in said tubing to exert an upward pressure on saidpiston to reduce the stress on said sucker rod line.

7. In well pumping apparatus, the combination of a line of tubing, aline of sucker rods in said tubing, means reciprocable by said suckerrod line to pump iluid upwardly through said tubing, a piston in saidtubing and connected to said sucker rod line, stuffing box means to sealthe a plurality of pistons in said tubing and connectedl to said suckerrod line, and'a plurality of means to prevent the fluidin said tubingfrom exerting a downward pressure on said pistons and to cause the iiuidin said tubing to exert an upward pressure on said pistons to reduce thestress on said

